The Brink of Darkness
by Shadow24
Summary: Following the destruction of Lavos... the next villan revealed. (Email me and let me know if you think I should work on a FF3 fic at the same time as this one. Thanks~)
1. Prologue

Darkness. Everywhere, there was darkness. Even the howling of the wind had an ominous tone to it. _How sad,_ the cloaked figure thought, as he paced quietly over rubble and wreckage. _Haw sad indeed. A once-proud kingdom. Reduced to… this. Ashes, dust, and nothingness. But this was their fate from the very beginning. Ever since… **she** decided that she needed more power. Yes… this is all her fault._

And, deep inside, another voice echoed in response to his mind's accusations.

__

And do you blame her? It asked. Those unspoken words bringing a scowl to his face, turning his head to the side and facing the chill wind. The hood of his cloak blew back, and long blue hair tumbled from confinement. Pale skin, compared to that of Death itself, gleamed softly in the dying sunlight. _Do you blame her for succumbing to the lure? You nearly did yourself, you know._

Magus closed his eyes and growled softly, wishing again, as he did every day, that this voice in his head would be silent, and allow him to live out the rest of his life as he wanted to.

Alone.

Finally, he rose to his feet, sighing. _You know that you can't be alone without effort. So go out, you fool, and do what you know you have to do before the world will truly let you be._ The very thought of being near those young fools he had encountered years ago sickened him… but it was a small price to pay for his desired solitude. Retrieving his scythe from its resting place, he walked to the mouth of the cave he had tried to call "home" for four long years, stepping out into the whirling snow, and darkness….


	2. The Beginning

2/14/05 - It was destined to be a great day. All over the world, lovers young and old celebrated Valentine's Day. A steady stream of people could be seen traveling from all over the world to Leene Square, where a huge celebration was to be held. Although much of the crowd was made up of teenagers and young adults, there were still some older couples attending. One such couple was Taban and Lara, walking happily with their hands intertwined. It was only two months ago that the small family of three had discovered that Lara was once again pregnant, and soon Lucca would have a little brother or sister. The entire family was excited about the prospect of a new child, and their happiness added to the sounds of laughter and love already streaming through the air. Even Crono's mother, long widowed, was visiting the Square, delighting and rejoicing in the wave of happiness.

Inside Guardia Castle, however, things weren't nearly as peaceful. Nadia rushed from room to room, trying desperately to prepare for the extravagant feast that was to be held at the castle later that night. "What do you MEAN the turkey won't be done?! I don't care if you have to find Lucca and BURN IT, just GET IT DONE!" The various servants of the castle quivered in fear whenever they heard her approaching footsteps, and no one was totally safe from the incensed voice that had resonated through the castle halls so many times already that day. Finally, as Nadia smashed a wooden chair against a wall, Crono stepped down from the upper floors and intervened, slipping his arms around her waist and holding her in place. "Calm down, love. Everything will go much faster if you just relax and be patient. Let the people do their jobs - that's what they're paid for… remember?" Nadia shook her head and tried to push away, but Crono maintained his grip. "Everything has to be perfect," Nadia muttered through clenched teeth, "or else we'll look like… like…" "… Like normal people?" Crono finished softly, and as the words escaped his lips, Nadia let out a small sigh and nearly collapsed against him. "… Yeah… well, alright… but I don't just want to sit around the castle all day. Let's go to the square and celebrate with everyone else!" Crono nodded his agreement, and Nadia started to run off, but Crono grabbed her arm. Nadia paused and turned around, and before she knew it, Crono had her pulled close, giving her a deep, long kiss. The beginnings of a protest died before it reached her lips, and she simply smiled and kissed him back for a long moment before giving his arm an affectionate squeeze, and turning to race upstairs.

That kiss, in the end, saved her life.


	3. The Destruction

It was almost noon by the time Crono and Nadia left the castle, heading through the forest towards the square. Save for the occasional Imp grabbing at Crono's wallet in an attempt at thievery, the trips was quiet. Nothing appeared unusual, or out of the ordinary… until the young couple reached the edge of the forest. As they stepped out from under the cover of the trees, the surrounding area was cast completely into darkness, as the sun was covered up above them by… "A… ball?" Nadia wondered out loud. Crono blinked and nodded, watching as the ball fell lower, covering the town and square in darkness. A sharp gust of wind took both of the heroes by surprise, and Crono felt an involuntary chill run down his spine, as a sense of dread filled his very being. Slowly, the ball descended down into the center of the square, and from their vantage point, the two could see a group of villagers gather around it, waving their hands excitedly.

They were the first to die when the ball exploded.

From within that ball, a surge of black magic ripped outward, covering the town, the square, and a wide circle of land. The dark magic tore across the countryside, tearing up buildings and destroying nearly everything that came into contact with it. Nadia screamed, grabbing Crono and clinging onto him as the wave expanded outward. Crono felt another chill run down his spine, and it felt like the magic was eating into his stomach and forming a pit there. _This is it, we're all going to die… everything is going to die… we're all…_ The thought hung in his mind, unfinished, as the wave grew closer and closer… and then stopped, mere feet in front of them. The magic and wind seemed to howl in unison, as if it **knew** they were there, and it wanted to devour them… and then, abruptly, it disappeared, vanishing from existence. The sun shone down again, but deathly silence reigned. The sounds of love and happiness that had filled the air only moments ago had vanished. All that remained of Truce was a giant crater, and the skeletal remains of several buildings. Nadia froze for a moment, her lower lip trembling violently, before falling to her knees, tears slowly forming and streaming down her cheeks. "Oh… my… God…" The words hung in the air for a moment, and her mouth opened and closed several times, but nothing more came out as the wave of emotions overtook her, and she fell to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. Crono, his eyes still wide in shock and amazement, could only stand where he was, unable to even comfort Nadia as he was overtaken by his thoughts.

__

That was… pure evil.

Pure darkness.

… Shadow magic? But that would mean…

Crono's eyes swept upward, and he turned in a full circle. There - just above him, he caught a small glimpse of blue hair, waving in the wind, before losing the sight in the glare of the sunlight. Feeling his knees weaken, Crono dropped to the ground beside Nadia, shaking slightly as he leaned in close, whispering in her ear, "I think… we're in trouble… … Big trouble…"


	4. The Aftermath

__

Lucca had been at home with her parents, eagerly preparing for the celebration, when the messenger had arrived, asking for her. After he had left, she turned to face her parents and sighed. "I'm sorry, you guys… the boats at Porre have broken down, and the Mayor wants me to fix them for him right away. You two go on ahead to the festival, and I'll catch up with you guys later, ok?" 

The memory of just an hour ago echoed through Lucca's mind as she stood in Porre village. Even from so far away, the explosion of black magic had been quite visible. Shock gripped her tightly for a moment before it was overruled by a stronger flood of emotions - blind, pure panic. "MOM! DAD!" Fueled by her fear, she began to run, the burning of her already-tired muscles ignored. The usually-long trek across the continent blew by in a flash. Even as she rounded the corner of the forest and saw the crater, a trickle of hope stayed with her. _Maybe they didn't go… Maybe they stayed home and waited for me!_ In the next moment, even that trickle faded, as she saw the cascade of water, rushing down to fill the void where her home had once been. Everything around Lucca spun, and her last, echoing thought before darkness overtook her was a fearful cry for her parents.

When Lucca finally awoke, she found herself on a cool, soft bed. All around, she heard screams, cries, and shouts of anger and frustration, echoing throughout… "I'm in the castle." _Brilliant. And you call yourself a genius, girl… well, get up and figure out what happened!_ Swinging her legs out of the bed, she sat up before deciding that **that** was definitely not such a good idea, as the entire room tilted and turned, warning her that her body wasn't quite ready to move yet. Across the room, a door burst open, and, acting purely on instincts, Lucca had her gun out, aimed, and fired a shot in a matter of a second… but because of her dizziness, the shot flew wide, smashing into a dresser instead of… "HEY! Careful, Lucca! I don't want to get shot!" Lucca slowly lowered her gun - she recognized that voice. Nadia took two giant steps over to the bed and wrapped Lucca up in a hug that nearly crushed her. "Oh, Lucca, it's so horrible! All the people… all the children… everyone…" That was all Nadia got out before a fresh wave of grief overtook her, and she began sobbing again. At the word mention of the word "children", Lucca stiffened slightly. Her mind raced back to memories of her mother, proudly announcing that she was going to have another child. _Would it have been a girl, or a boy…? I guess it really doesn't matter any more… _As the thoughts raced through her mind, Lucca felt something inside her seem to stiffen, and she frowned. "Who did this?" she asked Nadia quietly, who sniffed and looked up at Lucca. "Crono thinks…", she began in a shaky voice, before shaking her head and clearing her throat. "Crono thinks… that it was… Magus. But we just don't know right now…" Lucca's eyes narrowed, and her knuckles turned white as she gripped her gun. "Magus. I'm going to kill… Magus."

2/21/05 - It had been a week since the day of destruction. Soldiers from the castle had begun the task of trying to clear the water which had seeped into the crater from the nearby oceans. Lucca was directing the task, but her actions and conversations were bland and emotionless. The only thing truly on her mind was gaining revenge against her family's murderer. Over the past few days, Crono had apparently become more and more cut off from the world, growing nearly silent again in light of this new threat. Lucca couldn't blame him. _He lost his mother too, you know._ They had all lost something in this tragedy, and in the back of her mind, one thought resounded, over and over. _Why would he **do** this? _Her thoughts were interrupted a moment later by footsteps, approaching behind her. Slowly, she turned… taking in the sight of Crono and Nadia, standing before her, clad once again in their traveling clothes. There was an odd gleam in Crono's eyes - one she hadn't seen since the destruction of Lavos. With a start, Lucca realized what it was: anger. When Crono finally spoke, it was in a cold voice, devoid of any happiness.

"We're leaving."


	5. The Journey Begins

2/22/05 – Preparations began immediately. The three retrieved their legendary weapons from the castle's treasury, along with something else that Crono and Marle had thought long lost. Lucca lead the way down a long, dark hallway, with the two others following close behind. Finally, she stopped in front of a large, intricately designed door, which was covered in rows of buttons and switches. Marle blinked, her jaw opening slightly. "How do you remember the combination, with all those?" Lucca simply smiled and turned the handle of the door, opening it easily. "I don't. Most people see it, assume they'll never get inside, and leave without even trying. It makes things so much easier." At that, she stepped into the room, holding the door for them before letting it close. Inside the room, everything was silent, and no light penetrated in. Lucca closed her eyes, and a faint red glow surrounded her moments before torches all around the room flared into life, revealing… "The Epoch! I thought you destroyed it years ago!" Marle exclaimed. Lucca shook her head and grinned, climbing into the driver's seat. "We decided it might come in useful one day… and sure enough, it is." Crono blinked, and shook his head. "Well, that's great. But how do we get it out of here?" Lucca's grin broadened, and she pushed a button in Epoch. High above them, the ceiling split into two, and the floor of the room began to rise. Slowly, they rose, until the only things above them were treetops and the open sky. Marle looked around for only a moment before realizing the answer. "We're in the middle of the forest!" Lucca nodded. "Of course. Where else would we be, silly? Now get in, and let's go!" Crono and Marle jumped into the ship, and they rose into the air. Lucca pressed the button again and they watched the room descend again, a large patch of dirt the only evidence that anything had been moved. 

From so high up, it was easy to survey the rebuilding process, and the three of them simply watched that for a moment before Crono broke the uneasy silence. "So… where are we going?" Marle frowned, kicking at the floor of the ship. The only mistake Belthasar made with this thing was not putting in a custom time selector… I would love to go back a few weeks ago and stop all this from happening." Lucca bit her lip for a moment, thinking. "Let's go to the Middle Ages." she finally concluded. "What…? Why there? Why not somewhere in this time period?" Marle questioned. Lucca shook her head and gestured down at the crater. "Whoever did that most likely wouldn't stick around… and since as far as we know, there aren't any other ships that can travel through time, then the person who did it had to come from…" "The Gate at Leene Square!" Marle finished, snapping her fingers. Lucca smiled. "Exactly. So I think we should go there and look for anything that seems suspicious." She pushed several buttons on Epoch's control panel, and all around the, the world blurred slightly as they vanished into the stream of time.

12000 B.C. - Amidst a howling snow storm, a light flickered. A small, damp cave held the source of the light - a blue-cloaked figure, holding a lantern, knelt near the entrance of the cave. From deep within the cave, a strong voice echoed. "Report." The figure bowed its head, and a woman's voice filled the near-silence. "The dark wizard still serves us. The first stages of the plan are complete. Awaiting the next stage." When the voice next spoke, it was filled with rage, anger, and, perhaps a trace of… eagerness.

"Kill them."


End file.
